A moratorium on wind projects as justifiable as the fracking pauses
Dashboard time is thinking time for me. Traveling from Sterling to Denver, I often recount conversations between colleagues and constituents. I can’t help but notice an overarching theme in many of these conversations: local control is under attack at the Capitol.
The latest attack is an effort to usurp local control over siting renewable energy projects. Proponents claim that state involvement is necessary to get counties in line so that the governor can achieve his self- imposed clean energy goals ( which keep changing).
Despite what legislators in the Democrat majority would have you believe, counties are not hindering renewable energy development in the state. On the contrary, counties have a long track record of collaborating with stakeholders and engaging with their communities in identifying and overseeing responsible and reasonable renewable energy projects.
The counties in my district are thoughtful and deliberate in considering proposed renewable energy projects. Most proposed renewable energy projects are approved, and when proposals are denied, it’s for good reason. Those reasons range from environmental impact concerns and impact on agriculture and wildlife to inadequate benefits for the host community.
Counties must be allowed to engage with their constituents on critical issues and should be able to respond to those constituents. Boulder County led the way in using moratoriums to do just that. They imposed a five- year moratorium on oil and gas, giving them time to contemplate the best path forward for their community. None of the moratoriums imposed on renewable energy development have come anywhere close to approaching five years. It is difficult, therefore, to argue that short- term moratoriums that give counties time to thoughtfully consider renewable energy project proposals are evidence of counties acting in bad faith.
Counties have demonstrated that they are responsible and thoughtful in exercising their land use authority. The Democrat majority and radical environmentalists, on the other hand, would prefer to usurp local control to implement their agenda. Instead of respecting local governments’ right to manage their affairs as they see fit, these individuals want to expedite the planning and siting of all green energy projects, period. If the tables were turned and the state tried to claw back the power to regulate oil and gas production from counties, Denver and Boulder counties would be outraged, and rightly so.
In the context of land use, relationships mean everything. Earlier this month, for example, a wind turbine collapsed and caught fire in Logan County. Thanks to the strong relationships between local government entities, the renewable energy company, and the community, the impact was contained, and trust between all parties remains strong. These relationships dissolve when the state comes in, usurps counties’ land use authority, and denies the community the right to be heard on important issues.
The majority party cannot dictate what happens in rural Colorado. The people in rural Colorado are just as important as those residing along the Front Range. If Boulder County can retain authority over its land use decisions, then why can’t Washington, Weld, or Phillips County do the same? Legislators in the Democrat majority are hell- bent on creating two different Colorados, and they are weaponizing land use authority to do it.